Opinion - Luminae Extra Tip

[pl281]

Quick Opinion question - we are a family of 5 (in 2 suites) with a 4 year old.... our waiter has been the same every night as we did a reservation ..... This is not on if we should or shouldn't...just looking to get idea of amount

 

they have gone above and beyond in regards to our little one.... I know that our pre-paid tips go into a pool....I want to give the waiter a little extra - just wanted to know thoughts on a 11 night cruise

 

Thanks

 

 

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[cruzzzinma]

Don't judge! I would give him at least $100, maybe more.

[pl281]

Don't judge! I would give him at least $100, maybe more.

 

 

 

Thank you - this is the sort of information I am looking for

 

 

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[Karynanne]

We always tip our waiter extra at the end of the cruise. And the sommelier too. They usually give amazing service and great attention to any special requests.

 

 

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[cdn_tbird]

You're really the only one that can honestly judge the value of them going above and beyond. All you're going to get from us here are guesses. Personally, I'd probably do something on the range of $10 to $20 per night. But that's just a WAG on my part.

 

 

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[pl281]

You're really the only one that can honestly judge the value of them going above and beyond. All you're going to get from us here are guesses. Personally, I'd probably do something on the range of $10 to $20 per night. But that's just a WAG on my part.

 

 

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thanks this is what i was looking for / figuring on but again wanted to get opinions. thank you for your feedback

 

 

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[CHEZMARYLOU]

On a 7 day cruise, 2 of us, we gave the waiter $50. We ate in a lot of specialty restaurants and never made it to breakfast, lunch only a few times.

[cb at sea]

Personally, I think $100 on top of what you've already paid is a bit much. I'd do $50 on the last evening!

[Fouremco]

Assuming that your 4 year old was reasonably well behaved, I agree that something in the $50 range is adequate.

[Tomato53]

Just me...at least $100

[CHEZMARYLOU]

IMO, with 4 adults and 1 child in 2 suites I think $100 for an 11 day cruise is reasonable, especially if you had most dinners and a few breakfasts and lunches in Luminae.

[Champagne Cruiser]

A few years ago there was an opinion piece here on CC about additional tipping. Although this person was very generous I thought the guideline a bit excessive although his rationale (we are lucky to be able to afford a vacation and the crew works very hard for not much compensation) was a good one. I think this latest article is on the low side but here it is. We usually tip $5 day for room steward and $10 per day for waiters, sommelier about $2-3 per day. This is if we have found very good service. If we have a beverage package we give $1 to the bartender for our 2 drinks. If no beverage package we let the 18% additional cover it. If we spend most evenings at the Elite cocktail hour because we don't have a beverage package (recent trans Pacific) we give $5 per night. All of this is for 2 people in one cabin.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

[critterchick]

A few years ago there was an opinion piece here on CC about additional tipping. Although this person was very generous I thought the guideline a bit excessive although his rationale (we are lucky to be able to afford a vacation and the crew works very hard for not much compensation) was a good one. I think this latest article is on the low side but here it is. We usually tip $5 day for room steward and $10 per day for waiters, sommelier about $2-3 per day. This is if we have found very good service. If we have a beverage package we give $1 to the bartender for our 2 drinks. If no beverage package we let the 18% additional cover it. If we spend most evenings at the Elite cocktail hour because we don't have a beverage package (recent trans Pacific) we give $5 per night. All of this is for 2 people in one cabin.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=132

 

I would take exception to the comment that the crew work very hard for not very much compensation. If people didn't remove their daily charges (I don't know what percentage do), then their compensation is very fair, IMO. I don't believe that it's my responsibility to make up for those who, for whatever reason, don't think they should pay their fair share.

 

Having said that however, we find that the service tends to be truly excellent and always like to provide a token gratuity at the end of a meal (specialty restaurant) or cruise. If we find a favorite bartender, we usually tip extra for our drinks, but I confess that I am tiring of whipping out singles every time I'm served. Maybe I will drink less, lol.

 

As for Luminae, we dined there for breakfast only, not daily, except for one dinner that wasn't worth the two hours it took (for two courses, no dessert). We gave our breakfast waiter $20 for a 9 night cruise. Just the two of us.

[jules815]

I'd do $100.

[pl281]

Thank you to everyone who replied - as I said originally I was just looking for input.... this was an 11 night cruise... our 4 year old doesn't eat much (medical reasons) and sometimes can be difficult.... but the waiter in Luminae went out of his way to try to engage with our son and really make sure his needs were meet ....hence the reason for a direct tip

 

Thank you again

 

 

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[Fouremco]

Interesting, as we normally pay our room steward(s) more than our waiter(s), perhaps the same if MDR service has been particularly good.

[Cruise To Relax]

This is an interesting thread for me as we just finished a cruise this past week and ate in Luminae. We pondered a long time on who should get an extra tip and how much. We know the charged gratuities are split up and given to the various staff. We know the butler gets $3 per day per guest (I think that is what I saw). We did eat most all meals in Luminae minus a couple of speciality dinners and sometimes we just skipped eating that meal. We ended up having 3 different waiters during the course of the cruise. We thought one was excellent, one was very good, and the other one average. On the other hand, the sommelier was outstanding. If we had only one waiter (either the experienced the excellent or even very good waiter), it would have been very easy to follow the guidelines and give that one waiter $5-$10 per night. But then what about the assistant waiters? Yes, we had a reservation every night for the same time and we thought it was with the excellent waiter. However upon arrival, sometimes you don't get the choice even with a set time. What we did is basically figure out which staff deserved the tip and then gave them a proportion of what we would normally have given just one. However, if you figure a 10 day cruise, then splitting $50 or even $100 does not give any one person very much. Again, what about the assistant waiters. We ended up splitting $120 among the waiters, assistant waiters, and sommelier. I am all in favor of tipping in Luminae, the Michaels Club Concierge, Butlers, stateroom attendant (only 1 now), etc. if we receive service above expectation. It is my perception that the folks who serve in Luminae, Michaels Club, Butlers, etc. are carefully selected and are very good. So if they really go above and beyond, then an extra tip is certainly warranted in my opinion. But then again, it should also be based on each person's experience and what was done for them. There were only 2 of us traveling and we had no special requests or parties - if we had traveled with family members who needed more from the staff and the staff met that challenge, then I certainly think extra tip could be appropriate. I agree a tip may be warranted but sometimes I just find it difficult to tip "just because" the staff is there and doing their jobs. I hope I don't offend anyone because we too often agonize over what is fair and right. We just have a difficult time each cruise because all of the staff are really outstanding.

[TeeRick]

We have actually asked the Luminae Maitre D' about giving extra tips on two recent cruises where we have dined in Luminae. The response was the same - they serve you as a team and therefore pool all of the extra tips and split them equally at the end. It might be a great thing to give your special waiter $50 or $100 but they might not actually keep that whole amount. Check with the Maitre D' and see what they say on your particular cruise. There is probably no fleet-wide policy on this but it might be determined on an individual Luminae team basis. On the most recent ship a few weeks ago (Constellation) the Luminae team names were given to everybody typed up on a piece of paper on the last night. They stressed how important it was to mention individual names in the customer online surveys post-cruise.

[cruzzzinma]

We have actually asked the Luminae Maitre D' about giving extra tips on two recent cruises where we have dined in Luminae. The response was the same - they serve you as a team and therefore pool all of the extra tips and split them equally at the end. It might be a great thing to give your special waiter $50 or $100 but they might not actually keep that whole amount. .

 

We've done it both ways. We've also sailed in Luminae and had many servers. In that case, we gave a tip to the maitre d' for the staff. The sommelier's are not part of the Luminae or Blu shared extra tip pool. If you feel they deserve extra, then tip them directly.

 

If individuals receive tips directly, they've told me they are allowed to keep them. When we've had mostly dedicated staff we tip them directly.

[Straughn]

We had a similar issue, not with a child, but an adult with some serious food allergies. It was simpler to have the same waiter every meal so as not have to start at square one every time. We spoke with the Luminae Maitre'd, explained the situation, and he made that happen every meal. At the end of the cruise, I went to the Maitre'd and asked the question about our server being able to keep an extra tip. I was told that $$ given directly to the waiter/assistant waiter/sommelier are their's to keep. Not required to share.

 

And, the other "tip" you can give your server is to sing his praises to the Maitre'd, the F&B Manager, and on the comment card. Mention him by name.

 

I mentioned the name of a Luminae sommelier, about three days into a 7-night cruise, to the Beverage Manger, who happened to be in Michael's Club one evening. She (the sommelier) came to our table the next night and thanked us profusely. That kind of praise is so important for assignments, promotions, etc.

[Sandtrap328]

Definitely, tip your waiter $150 - at least! For a party the size of your PLUS a 4 year old, the waiter is a saint!

 

Give him the tip in the hallway so he does not have to pool it. Do it BEFORE the last night and just see what excellent service you get!

[wrk2cruise]

I have also been told by a waiter we had on 2 cruises in Luminae that the tips are pooled. We still gave individual envelopes to our main wait staff so they were aware of how much we appreciated them even if it went into the pool. On thinking about it although we did have the same waiter every lunch/dinner almost every server on our side of the room did interact with us at some point, picking up an empty plate, filling a glass or something. I have resigned myself to the fact that how the tips are handled in Luminae is a company policy agreed to by the staff. I don't think that trying to hand a tip in private is going to help anybody.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

They do seem to work as a team in Luminae. Our bread person went out of her way to try to get us some brown bread from the MDR. She succeeded a few times. We did have the same waiter every night. We brought out the whole team on the final night for a photo. They'd all worked hard to make our dining experience memorable. I gave my extra tip to the waiter. What they choose to do with the extra tips is their business. I think that pooling encourages them all to work as a team.

[Palms2Pines2Sea]

This is just a gentle reminder that we can not always be sure that a shipboard tip given directly to an individual is retained by that individual.

However, we can be much more confident that a recognition of that individual, issued to his or her supervisors and also documented by the cruise line, is of substantial value to that individual.

To the OP, I agree with the $100 figure.

[garyl62]

We do about $75 to our waiter for 2 of us on a 7 night cruise so for an 11 night trip I would guess we'd make it at least a 100. Now if I felt the service was only average, or for some other reason we felt less was deserved we'd lower the amount. It is a tip, not a guarantee after all. That being said, you do what you feel is directly related to how you were served based on the expectations you had coming into the cruise. When we want to be sure our waiter keeps it all, we usually seek them out during lunch on a port day while they are serving in a different location and make the "hand-off" there.